Sustainability-led investment manager Foresight Group has seen its assets under management (AUM) slightly increase to £12.2 billion for the six months ended 30 September 2023.
The half-year results published by the firm showcase a slight increase on the £12.1 billion recorded on 31 March 2023. Although its AUM increased, the firm’s funds under management (FUM) saw a slight decrease to £8.8 billion, down from the £9 billion recorded at the end of March.
As reported by Solar Power Portal earlier this month, Foresight’s dedicated solar and battery storage fund Foresight Solar also saw its unaudited net asset value (NAV) decrease to £706.9 million in Q3 2023. This was mainly driven by a downtrend in UK power price forecasts throughout the third quarter.
Despite these decreases, Foresight continues to remain resilient stating that “investment opportunities within our key markets remained strong”.
In the UK, Foresight sees a number of opportunities. The National Infrastructure Commission believes that the surge in renewables forecast will result in a market opportunity for infrastructure investment firms.
Foresight highlighted in its H1 financial results that “to reach net zero, the main areas for private sector investment will require between c.£20 billion and £35 billion per year between 2025 and 2050. There is further pressure on the government to support additional electricity storage and other demand-side response technologies, such as pumped hydro, to help ensure continuity of supply. This, in turn, will also demand an increased investment in the relevant infrastructure”.
Market opportunities are also expected to be bolstered via the government’s introduction of the UK Energy Act, which came into force in October 2023. The Act looks set to leverage private investment in clean technologies to reach net zero. This was noted in Foresights results.
It is worth mentioning that Foresight concluded H1 with 292 infrastructure-based assets in the UK.
Commenting on the financial result, Bernard Fairman, executive chairman of Foresight Group Holdings Limited, said: “With Core EBITDA pre-SBP up by 28% and AUM at £12.2 billion, Foresight’s diversified business model has successfully delivered a strong and resilient performance, during one of the steepest increases in interest rates in living memory.
“We are well positioned to benefit from interest rate stabilisation and normalisation. The energy transition is the largest investment opportunity of our generation. Foresight is ideally placed to realise this opportunity through our multiple international strategies and extensive track record of raising capital to invest in sustainable infrastructure.
“On the back of this resilient performance and our strong pipeline of opportunities, we remain confident in Foresight’s ability to deliver on our strategic targets and to continue to deliver profitable growth and shareholder value.”